Now that I"m reading these replied, would it make sense to skip Zurich over nighter, train straight to Lake Como (would stay in mid lakes are, Bellagio, etc. etc). Its a long flight to Zurich from LAX, but since I feel our time is limited, why not? Or would I be killing myself if I skipped Zurich? BTW, our Zurich over nighter is free on Hyatt Passport account.

Thanks

sheesh sorry for the misspelled words.

reneev40, if you can catch the 4:45 p.m. train from the Zurich Airport, you'd arrive in the city of Como at 8:45 p.m. There won't be ferry service at that time, so you'd either stay in Como or perhaps taxi up the lakeshore a short distance to, say, Cernobbio or Moltrasio (about 6 miles). Unfortunately, if your flight is late and you don't catch the 4:45 p.m. train, you'd have to wait until 6:45 p.m. and not arrive Como until 10:45 p.m. If you stayed O/N in Zurich and departed the next morning, the train at 9:09 a.m. involves no changes and arrives Como at 12:15 p.m. Or the 7:09 a.m. departure, arrives Como at 10:15 a.m., no changes.

I like Zurich more than many. Considering the lodging is free, I'd probably spend the night and head to Bellagio the next day.

You can check Swiss train timetables here:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

And the ferry timetables here (although you'll have to wait a few weeks until they load the June schedules):

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/eng/c_orari.asp

marking for later comment.

Jean, thank you so much, I like the idea of staying overnight since I have no idea how miserable I will be when we land. Your info is so generous. Much appreciated.

Jean sorry to bother you, one last question - why am I only seeing routes to Milan? and I don't see the 9:09 departure? What am I doing wrong?
From Zürich HB to Milano Centrale
Please select your preferred date for Outward journey.

Outward journey
Thu, 13.06.13 Outward journey
Fri, 14.06.13 Outward journey
Sat, 15.06.13
2nd cl. CHF
1st cl. CHF
2nd cl. CHF
1st cl. CHF
2nd cl. CHF
1st cl. CHF

27.00
86.00

27.00
86.00

27.00
86.00

http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

From: Zurich HB
To: Como S. Giovanni
Date: 13.06.13
Time: 09:00
Make sure "Departure" bubble is filled in.
Click on "Search Connection".

It's working for me. Are you using another website?

BTW, if you did the same as above but typed Milano Centrale as your destination, the results would show the same 09:09 train departure. If you clicked on the tiny + sign under the number 1 (as in first result) and then scrolled down a few lines and clicked on "Show intermediate stops," you'd see that the Como S. Giovanni stop is the last one before Milan.